Best Foot Forward: Finding sweet spots

By ELLEN BEST

Has spring started? Eight robins with bright orange breasts are perched in the tree right outside my window as I write this. Last weekend, we tapped our maple trees, and the sap began to flow, signaling that the path to spring has started, with freezing temperatures during the day mostly behind us. 

Yet winter lingers with cold nights. A white blanket of snow covers the garden beds, thankfully insulating the soil, preserving moisture, and adding beneficial elements to the earth, including the wood ashes from our fireplace that I scattered there.

While I’m not a big fan of cold weather, once I’m out there, it does feel invigorating, so I venture outside with a task in mind, collecting kindling around our property or on the roadside. People driving by must think I’m a little nutsy walking with armfuls of sticks. I feel like it’s connected to my tidying and organizing instinct, but the biggest reward is the satisfaction I feel when starting a crackling fireplace blaze with carefully collected dry kindling. 

I’m finding other sweet spots for personal solace. Here in town, when I’m driving by the Pound Ridge Town Park and it’s open for skating, I sometimes turn in and park for a few minutes — a peaceful respite in our frenzied world, a peek into a bucolic scene that could’ve been the same a hundred years ago. Toddlers are testing out their wobbly legs on new skates while hockey players are brushing up on their skills nearby. There’s something comforting about this picturesque, natural opportunity for all to enjoy alone, and together.

Back in the warmth of our home, I find solace in another ritual: enjoying tea. It’s crazy how much tea and related accessories I’ve collected. (Fellow tea enthusiasts, please reach out — I’m happy to share or trade.) So, when I found out that my next-door neighbor, Michael Ham, was the co-founder of a tea company, I was thrilled.

As a foodie, gardener and self-proclaimed soil nerd, I was elated to find out that his Wild Orchard Tea Co. offers the only organic, regeneratively grown green tea on the planet. Score!

Regenerative agriculture — a practice I apply in my own garden and along with growers in our local Bionutrient Food Association chapter — focuses on restoring soil health and biodiversity. These methods go beyond “organic” (nothing artificial added) and include maintaining soil cover, limiting soil disturbance and balancing nutrients, often yielding healthier plants that provide us with more nutrition while benefiting the environment.

Michael’s path to Wild Orchard Tea mirrored these regenerative values. He and his wife, Sarah, moved to New York City from Vancouver, but relocated to California for cleaner air. He became the business manager for 123 Farm and got a foothold in the world of good soil and growing organic, nutritious food. The farm continues to supply herbs for Wild Orchard’s blended teas and hosts tea tastings.

The leap to co-founding Wild Orchard came in 2018 after he had visited a friend’s tea farm on Jeju Island, a volcanic island with nutrient rich soil located off South Korea. The plan was to bring the tea to a wider market.

The farm had been doing things right from the beginning — no applied chemicals or fossil fuel machines, and the tea was picked by hand — so the organic operation was primed for regenerative certification. The tea plants had been started by seed in 2000, a planting method that would allow for maximum root growth and access to minerals in the soil (compared to starting with plants). 

To deal with weed pressure on the emerging plants, flocks of geese had been released on the 1,000 acres to eat the weeds, without any risk to the tea plants that were not their preference. Diverse plantings, wild animals and pollinators have always been part of the landscape.

Wild Orchard tea is finding its way into stores, restaurants, and even the offerings for sports teams as people become aware that the nutritional value of tea — just like vegetables — varies according to how it is grown and can affect human health and performance. Their black and green matcha teas are available to the Philadelphia Eagles, providing a natural energy drink for the players. 

Since 2018, Michael has been drinking 2 to 3 liters of tea every day, and claims he feels sharper, has more energy, and no longer gets sick. Ever since there has been unlimited tea available at their Mount Kisco office, employees, too, say they feel more energetic, and their sick days have been reduced. These dedicated tea drinkers often repurpose infused leaves in pestos and salads to capture remaining nutrients. 

Michael’s dedication to the environment and world health motivates him to offer his advice to tea farms in Tunisia, Sri Lanka, and India to help them bring their farms to the regenerative level. “The more, the better,” Michael says. 

Exciting developments are brewing. Plans are in the works to develop a matcha drink in a can, tea shots in a recyclable pack and a soft-serve oat milk ice cream using the Wild Orchard black matcha. Next month, Whole Foods will be documenting Wild Orchard’s tea tasting event at 123 Farm in California and filming the first tea festival on Jeju Island in South Korea. 

Whether we’re growing a business from the soil up, taking a sip of a new tea, or just observing the miracle of spring, gathering sweet spots can be part of putting our best foot forward. 

You can find Wild Orchard tea at wildorchard.com and at 123Dough (both in packages and by the cup) in Pound Ridge and G.E. Brown in Bedford Village.

Ellen Best is a longtime Pound Ridge resident and cheerleader. In her monthly column, “Best Foot Forward,” she explores the many aspects of life and living in Pound Ridge. If you have any questions or suggestions for future profiles or topics, email her at esbest8@gmail.com